The Distance Debate

Rick Young

Rick Young

Red flags at the United States Golf Association (USGA) and Royal & Ancient (R&A) have inched to their highest point, perhaps ever, with respect to the .0001 per cent of the golf world’s total players — touring professionals — and the prodigious lengths those highly skilled players can hit the modern golf ball.

The governing bodies heightened concern level comes in the wake of its most recent 2017 distance report published Monday. Significant in the 24-page document — of which 14 pages are dedicated specifically to golf at the highest level compared to five devoted to recreational golfer distances — is a three-yard year-over-year increase in distance across seven professional tours worldwide: the PGA Tour, European Tour, Web.com Tour, Japan Golf Tour, PGA Tour Champions, LPGA Tour and Ladies European Tour.

Since 2003 distance gains had been trending at 0.2 yards annually at the tour level. The ruling authorities had coined that a “slow creep.” The up-tick this year, according to a joint statement, issued by the USGA and R&A is “unusual and concerning and requires closer inspection and monitoring to fully understand the causes and effects.” More on that in a moment.

The PGA Tour and the PGA of America, on the other hand, do not share the USGA and R&A’s level of concern. Within hours of the distance report dropping, PGA of America CEO Pete Bevacqua issued a rather definitive statement all but refuting the governing bodies’ concern level for distance in the game.

Bevacqua, who represents 29,000 PGA of America professionals, deemed his organization to be “highly skeptical” of any need or requirement to roll back distance. Further comment from Bevacqua is below.

The PGA Tour’s position was more subtle, but it did not lack for clarity. In a letter to its players, Monahan also downplayed the distance report’s findings.

“Having carefully reviewed the data, we do not believe the trends indicate a significant or abnormal increase in distance since 2003 or from 2016 to 2017,” the commissioner wrote.

What ensued in the immediate aftermath of that statement and letter — which puts the USGA and R&A and the PGA Tour and PGA of America in opposite camps on distance — was a next-level firestorm of social media debate. Entrenched positions and emotional rhetoric took over amid blurring lines for what, if anything, this will mean in the big picture for the professional and, more importantly, the amateur game.

Particularly poignant Monday night on Golf Channel was a segment featuring host Ryan Burr, along with panellists Matt Adams, Jaime Diaz and Geoff Shackelford, that became heated to say the least.

Adams’ key point — one important not to forget — is that 99.9999 per cent of the world’s golfing population should, and do, have a stake in this. Their interests and what technology has provided you and me should and needs to be protected, at all costs. My opinion only, but it seems like recreational golfers are actually the minority on the matter of distance in the game. That is hardly the case.

Here is a dedicated capsule on what has transpired since Monday’s distance report became public. Hopefully, it helps to make some of those blurry lines a bit clearer.

The USGA/R&A Joint Statement of Principles

Before we get into the report this needs be put forward in no uncertain terms.

The governing bodies are not looking to escalate bifurcation with respect to any potential distance roll back. If Dustin Johnson and Adam Hadwin are hitting a 20 per cent shorter golf ball, for example, so are you and I. Here is why. This is from the USGA and R&A Joint Statement of Principles published in 2002:

“The R&A and the USGA continue to believe that the retention of a single set of rules for all players of the game, irrespective of ability, is one of golf’s greatest strengths. The R&A and the USGA regard the prospect of having permanent separate rules for elite competition as undesirable and have no current plans to create separate equipment rules for highly skilled players.”

As of this writing, this joint statement of principles remains in effect. To the best of my knowledge, there are no plans to abolish or amend the document.

Distance Report: Amateur Data

Not much new to report on testing protocols or year-over-year data gathering with respect to this latest report for recreational golfers. Whatever is available has been done via the R&A only, which, to its credit, has been collecting ‘club’ golfer data at six venues since 1996 from male amateur players and at eight clubs from female amateur players since 2013. The USGA has not done any formal research on this segment of golfers although the distance report indicates that is going to commence shortly.

Key findings for 2017

Male amateur golfers average 208 yards off the tee.

Female amateur golfers average 146 yards off the tee.

The report also indicates that the overall average driving distance for male amateur golfers has moved from 200 yards in 1996 to 208 yards in 2017. Also stated is that the highest handicap golfer group (21-plus handicap) has enjoyed the largest overall distance increase off the tee using a driver in the 22 years the R&A has logged this kind of data. That group is up 22 yards. The 13-20 handicap group average is eight yards longer in 2017 than it was in 1996 while the under six-handicap and six- to 12-handicap groups have had virtually no change during this time. The net change is less than one yard.

No conclusions or past comparisons are made in this report with respect to female amateur golf data.

Distance Report: Professional Tour Data

There is a wide array of data to sift through but in the end this year’s USGA and R&A distance report offers these key bullet points from the seven worldwide professional tours it uses to encapsulate its findings.

Remember these numbers are year-over-year increases or decreases from 2016:

– Distance on the PGA Tour was up two yards for all holes and 2.5 yards on measured holes.
– Distance on the European PGA Tour was up 3.6 yards
– Distance on the LPGA Tour went down by 0.8 yards
– Distance on the Ladies European Tour was up 6.4 yards
– Distance on the Web.com Tour was up 6.9 yards on average
– Distance on the Japan Golf Tour was up 5.9 yards
– Distance on the PGA Tour Champions was up 0.7 yards

It’s reasonable to look at this distance spike as a potential anomaly in any given year. It’s requisite actually. Look no farther than the year-over-year difference between the Ladies European Tour and the LPGA Tour. A 6.4-yard increase in Europe vs. an .8-yard decrease on the LPGA is a blip. I say this with some level of certainty since the LPGA has had an overall distance increase of three yards since 2003 compared to a Ladies European Tour increase of .8 yards. That said trends over five to 10 years paint a much truer picture of distance overall.

Equally accountable in this data are the different venues that apply to major championships and other events that rotate between courses or have adopted new ones. That makes course selection, the setup used, and weather significant aspects of this entire distance equation.

No example for this 2017 report applies more profoundly than the United States Open. In 2016 it was played at a soggy Oakmont Country Club before heading to runway hard Erin Hills in 2017.

According to Titleist, which posted a response to the distance report Monday night, that U.S Open course-to-course change alone accounted for a 20.4-yard increase in distance. The release from the Fairhaven, Mass., company also goes on to claim that going from Royal Birkdale to Royal Troon increased distance 8.1 yards and that a seven-yard increase was the end result of the PGA Championship going from Quail Hollow to Baltusrol. Since these numbers can be quantified they should be taken as factual.

Two more pieces of data from Titleist are also eye-openers. At 33 PGA Tour events conducted on the same venue in 2016 and 2017 the average driving distance increase was half a yard. Driving distance at the Masters year over year declined .4 yards.

Not to be forgotten are several Nike Golf staff players, including Brooks Koepka and Rory McIlroy, who allegedly increased their driving distance numbers dramatically with new OEMs after becoming equipment free agents. Nike left the hard goods space in August 2016.

Key Stakeholder Positions

The USGA and R&A and the PGA Tour and PGA of America are not scheduled to be on the mid-card at next month’s Wrestlemania but their conflicting viewpoints on distance and the findings of this 2017 report have clearly divided four of the games most powerful entities.

Yet to be heard from is Fred Ridley, chairman of Augusta National. Rest assured we will get his response next month during his news conference or perhaps sooner. Ridley is a former USGA president.

Bevacqua indicated that he intends to poll his 29,000 members to get their feedback on a “potential roll back” but that he is not on any fence with regards to the issue of distance in the game.

“Given the recent industry discussions and media reports regarding a potential roll back of the golf ball for all players and/or a segment of elite players, our board of directors has discussed this topic at length. Based on the information we have seen, we are highly sceptical that rolling back the golf ball in whole or in part will be in the best interests of the sport and our collective efforts to grow the game,” his statement said.

Among the game’s equipment manufacturers only Titleist at this point has come forward with a statement on the findings of this distance report. I would expect to hear from others. Another group also likely to respond on this subject are global golf course owners whose businesses are tied to the enjoyment level of its customers.

My Take

Is this report going to prove to be a tipping point on the issue of distance — if there is an issue — and the catalyst that enacts a change by the governing bodies? Not a chance in my opinion.

Expect this debate to rage on, despite what Mike Davis told Jack Nicklaus at the Honda Classic, probably for several more years and through multiple future distance reports. Some deem the golf ball to be public enemy No. 1 in this debate but doing so merely ignores the many factors that contribute to the overall distance equation. Among them are tri-plex mowers (which have effectively lowered fairway heights on the PGA Tour from three-quarters of an inch to three-sixteenths of an inch), equipment optimization via launch monitor technology; bigger, stronger athletes; driver head technology; and the modern golf shaft.

I think the game of golf right now is in a pretty good place. It seems a shame that Phil Mickelson’s victory at the WGC-Mexico Championship and Michelle Wie’s in Singapore on Sunday have been unceremoniously back-burnered by this distance report but they have. Such is the nature of the passion this game evokes within people all over the world.

At the same time I don’t see golf courses closing anywhere because the golf ball goes too far. I see golfers who play the game longer or earlier in life with the help of modern equipment.

For the 99.9999 per cent of us who are the game of golf the status quo must be maintained. For the .0001 per cent of golfers in the world I also believe that. I also know that professional golf is entertainment first, a consumable product for all of us to enjoy and marvel at. That said if a time comes that requires the ruling bodies to bifurcate, to amend its Joint Statement of Principles, then so be it. Slip And Fall Lawyers Philadelphia are the most trusted professionals, with experienced and reputation in the industry.

As I tap the final sentence for this post out, that time has yet to come.

Rick Young

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Ian Andrew
March 6, 2018 at 7:55 pm

The spacing architects must place between holes has gone up 50% since 2000.
The ball goes much further when hit off line, which happens a lot in the non-professional game.
For me, this whole issue has never been about defending par.
It’s a safety issue, which extends to a land use issue.
We need and maintain too large an acreage for the game to be economically sustainable.
I can’t understand why this is not understood

Yes Ian’s thoughts are probably more to the point today the potential to walk into a on coming wayward drive seems greater than ever . There are a number of rules already unique to Pro golf – the one ball type rule in particular so its not that hard when looking at the Elite game but there is no joint conversation on this.
Having said all this though there are no balls today that go further than most of the longer balls that were on sale in 2001,,,,
Golf clubs – drivers ,,,, well now we could have a conversation.

For anyone who has played golf since the 1980s, you know the ball goes further than a balata Titleist Pro Trajectory used to. Plus, it spins less, which increases the distance as well since mishits do not spin off target as much. For me, the biggest contributor to distance is the evolution in driver and shaft technology. With sweet spots that are larger than the golf ball itself, mishits go further, so the average drive of tour pros is measured further. If the ball spun more when it was not hit on the screws, the distances would decrease, and a greater emphasis on accuracy would be returned to the game. Maybe the maximum size of the driver head needs to be reduced AND the ball needs to spin more to reduce the effect of distance the ball travels on the game? Many classic courses are being relegated to member only play as distance makes them obsolete for tour play. Most other sports that have a ball to hit or throw use a standard ball that has not changed in decades (baseball, basketball, football, table tennis, tennis, soccer). Maybe golf needs a standard ball now? The argument that changes to equipment to make drives shorter will make it less enjoyable for the average player are bugus because despite the tech advances, handicaps have not improved much. It will bring classic courses back into play, and shower rounds may actually help stem the flow of people away from the game because it takes too long to play now.

Certainly the golf ball is being driven farther than it used to be, but notwithstanding that fact, I haven’t noticed that the scores have lowered to match. The first 59 was accomplished quite a number of years ago with a ball that not even the lowest ranking amateur would play today, on a course that was much less a manicured layout as is routinely played today, so perhaps distance off the tee and fairway isn’t as important as it is being made out to be. And after all, a very small portion of golfers is capable of hitting the golf ball that far. A tempest in a tea cup, perhaps.